The Draft, 1940-1973

Forsideomslag
University Press of Kansas, 1993 - 376 sider
"Individual liberty is ingrained in American culture. Yet, in contrast to this cherished ideal, American men were inducted into military service under a system that flourished for more than twenty years before its rationalization was seriously questioned by more than a small minority of citizens." "Analyzing this paradox, George Flynn provides the first comprehensive look at an institution that managed to sustain political and public favor through two wars before dying out under a barrage of protests during a third. Placing the American draft within a historical context, he shows how social and political considerations determined the character of conscription in the United States." "The draft developed as it did, he argues, not mainly because of military needs or strategy, but because of political decisions initiated by civilians with nonmilitary agendas. Explaining why the draft remained relatively immune to political criticism prior to the Vietnam conflict, Flynn chronicles the draft's military and strategic successes and failures in America's mid-century wars. He shows how major institutions and lobbies representing science, education, and various professions and religions influenced it and how, ultimately and ironically, the selective character of the draft eventually made the system inequitable and helped cause its downfall."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 

Indhold

Illustrations
12
Drawing capsules for draft lottery
23
A family of conscientious objectors
46
Draftees undergoing physicals
55
Roosevelt registers with the draft
63
Truman signs the bill for a
104
Protesting universal military
125
Students tested for deferment
143
Evading the draft
213
Nixon and the Draft
224
Protest during Nixons
237
General Hershey with his fourth
244
Curtis Tarr stirs the last capsules
255
The AVF and the Future
259
Now machines do it all
280
Notes
283

LBJ and Vietnam
166
Draft protest in the 1960s
174
Protest and Reform
188
Bibliographical Essay
351
Index
363
Copyright

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